


Impulses

by ComanderSprings



Category: Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series
Genre: Chatting & Messaging, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29681892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComanderSprings/pseuds/ComanderSprings
Summary: Ami needs her friends' help to prepare her house for her mother's arrival. However, there's one thing she didn't think of: all her friends will be busy with high school the next day. All her friends...except for Arata.
Relationships: Aiba Ami/Sanada Arata
Kudos: 3





	Impulses

**Author's Note:**

> Here I come with another one-shot for all the AraAmi shippers out there. Don't hesitate to leave a comment, I'd love to meet more fellow shippers ^^ I hope everyone enjoys reading!

It was nine o’clock in the evening. Ami had just gotten home from a regular day at the detective agency. Ever since she and her friends dealt with the Mother Eater, the cases had become pretty mundane. Regardless, Ami still enjoyed her job. She felt good working with Kyoko, whom she considered a second mother. However, Ami’s main mother figure would be around again in no time. She’d be back home in two days and Kyoko was kind enough to allow Ami to take a few days off. Maybe mundane cases weren’t so bad, after all.

Yukino—Ami’s mother—had been away for quite some time. As a journalist, her job often took her abroad. Although video calls and messages were good, Ami still missed seeing her mom in person. She was happy as a clam knowing how close they were to meeting again. The girl wanted to surprise her parent on her homecoming in some way. One of those ways would be cooking something for her mother. The other, making sure the house was clean and tidy and for that, she’d need her friends’ help.

While Ami was fine, daily tasks were still a struggle sometimes. She could do the bare minimum, but things like reaching for high places tired her out too fast. Attending physical therapy made her improve, but she wasn’t sure if she could clean the entire house by herself yet. Ami knew she would have done so in normal conditions, but she had no choice but to ask for help. The girl sat on her couch and took out her phone. She opened the group chat she was in with everyone.

“ _Hi! Is anyone around?_ ”

Ami took her phone to the kitchen as she went to fetch something to eat. Just as she was coming back to the living room, her phone rang. Nokia had sent a message to the group chat.

“ _Hiiii! I’m right here, what’s up? :D_ ”

Ami chuckled at her friend’s message. Nokia’s spunk was evident even when texting. The former typed up a response.

“ _Nothing much atm_.” Ami sent in that message before writing a new one. “ _The thing is I wanted to ask a favor. I hope it’s not too much trouble_.”

A few seconds later, the app signaled that Ryota was writing. It didn’t take long until the message arrived. “ _Sure, what is it?_ ”

After that, Ami began typing a new message. “ _Remember when I said that my mom is coming home soon? She’ll be there in two days and I’d like to clean up and such, but I’m afraid I might not be able to do everything on my own. If at least two of you could come over tomorrow, that’d be a great help_.” 

The girl set the phone aside and waited for answers. In the meantime, Ami opened the container of the ready-made salad she picked. It was one of those days where she didn’t feel like cooking. Besides, she had to save up her energy to cook the special meal her mother deserved.

Another notification reached her phone. It was a new message from Ryota. “ _Sakura and I have nothing to do after school, so it shouldn’t be a problem_.”

That’s something Ami didn’t think of. The next day was a school day and all of her friends would be busy. They wouldn’t be free until 3 PM. She had the intention of being done more or less around 4 PM. If she had to wait for her friends to be out of school, they’d all end much later than that. It would be unfair to them since they’d probably have homework and other things to do. Ami wrote a reply.

“ _I didn’t think of school, sorry :( If you guys come over after school it might get late_.”

Ryota sent a message shortly after. “ _So? That’s not a problem for me. I can do my homework before bed_.” 

“ _Yeah, as always_.” Sakura joined the conversation with a teasing message.

“ _There’s someone who can help you out while we are at school_.” Nokia ended that message with the eyes emoji. She sent another immediately after. “ _Right, @Arata?_ ”

Ami’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing that. Again, it was something she didn’t think of. Arata dropped out of high school time ago and he didn’t have any other commitments, so he should be able to help her. Of course, Ami wanted to know what he thought first. The girl sent a message voicing that exact idea and set her phone aside again. She went back to eating her dinner and waited.

This time, it took longer until a new notification came through. Ami grabbed her phone right as she saw the screen light up. She opened up the notification even before the ringtone could play. Just as she hoped, it was a text from Arata.

“ _Who pinged me?_ ” A few seconds later—although to Ami they felt like minutes—Arata sent a new message. Now he was the one pinging. “ _@Ami I can come help while they are at school. Is that good?_ ”

Ami didn’t hesitate to answer. “ _Yes, of course! Thank you so much_.”

“ _Np. What time should I come over?_ ”

“ _Is 10 AM fine?_ ”

“ _Yes, I’ll be there at that time_.”

“ _Nice!_ ” Ami sighed and smiled before writing a second message. “ _Again, thanks a lot_.”

This time, it was Ryota who sent a message to the group. “ _Who knows, you might not even need us by the time the school day is over_.”

“ _If that’s the case, please let us know_.” Sakura followed soon after.

Ami sent one last message reassuring her friends that she’d keep them updated. Now that everything was settled, she had the biggest grin on her face. The fact Arata was so quick to offer his help warmed her heart. Ami couldn’t wait for morning to come. She didn’t expect things to take that turn, but she wouldn’t change the situation one bit.

\----------------------------------------

Five minutes to 10 AM. The cleaning supplies were ready on a corner in the room. Ami sat on a chair as she waited for the doorbell to ring. The last few minutes of wait are always the hardest ones and that was especially true in this case. Ami found herself glancing at the wall clock almost constantly. She knew it wouldn’t make time pass faster, but at least it reassured her that time went indeed by.

The girl kept wondering if she should have prepared something to eat. While they’d work a lot, they’d also have to take a break at some point, wouldn’t they? Regardless, Ami was sure that Arata would say it won’t be necessary and that he’d be fine. He was always like that, worrying that he would inconvenience someone. Although Arata had come a long way since dropping Suedou, he still had to accept himself a bit more.

_Brring_

10:02 AM. There it was. The sound Ami had been waiting to hear. She made it to the door in a heartbeat and opened it just as fast. On the other side was Arata, just as she hoped.

“Hey,” Arata greeted her.

“Hi! Please, come in.” Ami made sure her friend had enough space to enter. Once he was in, she closed the door.

They both walked to the living room. Arata glanced at it. The place was actually pretty neat and tidy. If all the other rooms were like that, they’d be done in no time, but it wasn’t like he was in a rush. Ami’s company always made him feel good and that occasion was no exception.

“So, what should we do first?” Arata asked.

“I thought we should take care of this room first,” Ami said, gesturing towards what appeared to be rolled up cardboard, “I want to hang that up on the wall when we’re done.”

“Alright. Mind if I ask what it is?”

Ami smiled with fondness. “It’s a ‘welcome home’ sign. I made it as soon as I learned that my mom was coming back.”

Arata smirked. “That’s pretty cute. I’m sure she’ll love to see it.”

“Thank you!” Ami’s cheeks had gone pink. She spoke before the silence became awkward, “Okay, let’s start now. I’ll clean up the dust and you’ll sweep. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

With that, the pair got to work. Ami walked over to a side table. On top of it were a few things: pictures of the girl and her mother, souvenirs from Yukino’s trips… Ami picked up a certain frame. It held the last picture she and her mom took before the latter went on her current journey. She carefully set it aside and did the same with the rest of the objects on the side table.

In the meantime, Arata swept the floor as he was told. However, he couldn’t help but look at Ami out of the corner of his eye from time to time. She was so absorbed in her task, so thorough. He found it endearing. Arata could tell how excited Ami was about her mother’s return. The living room was quiet as they cleaned. Although it was a peaceful silence, Arata decided to break it.

“Does your mother travel a lot?”

Ami kept dusting as she spoke, “Yes, she does. She has been to so many different countries! It’s cool, but it makes me miss her a lot.”

Her friend went silent. Seeing his friends’ bonds with their parents always made Arata a bit jealous. In his case, the relationship with his parents was weak, to say the least. “It must feel good to have parents who care about you.”

“Huh?”

Arata stood still. _I can’t believe I thought out loud_. “What I was saying is that...you must feel good having a parent who cares about you.”

Ami gave him a compassionate smile. She knew he didn’t actually say that. “Yes, yes I do.”

Over ten minutes later, they were already done with the living room. The only things left to do were hanging the banner and mopping the floor. Ami wanted to hang the sign on the wall that faced the house’s entry door. That way, the first thing her mother would see would be the banner. Ami unrolled it with Arata’s help and asked him to hold it as she went to get a chair for him to step upon. 

Arata shook his head upon seeing that Ami got another one for herself. “Are you sure you can do that? This is the kind of thing that tires you out the fastest, you know.”

“Yes, but I have to do it. If we hang it together, it’ll be faster and better.”

The boy’s brow furrowed. “It might be faster and better, but you could get hurt.”

“Don’t worry Arata,” Ami said, “if I feel anything weird, I’ll tell you right away.”

“I hope so.”

They set both chairs against the wall, roughly at the same distance as the banner’s length. Arata held the left end and Ami held the right one. He was the first to step up on the chair, Ami followed right after. They pinned the sign with four tacks—one on every corner.

Once they made sure the banner wouldn’t fall, Ami stepped down from the chair. “See? There was nothing to worry about.” She winked at Arata. 

Her friend had to look away to hide his blushing face. “Y-yeah, good thing there were no accidents.” He stepped down too. What’s with that wink?

“Now I’ll go to my mom’s bedroom.” Ami grabbed the duster. “While you mop the floor here, I’ll dust everything and sweep around the bed.

“Once you’re done, you can come to sweep under the bed. Then we’ll make the bed together.”

“Got it.” Arata nodded once. “Call me if you need anything.”

“No worries, I will,” Ami reassured before walking down the corridor.

Arata went to dip the mop into the bucket. As he wrung it, he couldn’t stop thinking about the situation at hand. Just him and Ami, taking care of the house together as a married couple would. If Nokia was there, she would tease him about it non-stop. Arata thought he had gone crazy when he found himself telling Nokia about his feelings for Ami. What if she went and ratted him out? He didn’t even know if Ami returned those feelings. To Arata, it was likely she didn’t.

Little did he know that Ami did reciprocate them. As she dusted her mother’s nightstand, she thought of the way Arata showed concern towards her. It made her glad to have him in her life. Ami wished they could become something more, but she didn’t want to force anything upon him. She’d rather have him as a good friend than as nothing at all. Besides, he probably saw her as nothing but a friend...didn’t he?

Just as Ami was halfway done, Arata walked into the room. “I’m already done with the living room. Do you want me to start sweeping here?”

“That was quick!” Ami beamed. She gestured towards the area of the room she had already dusted. “You can start sweeping there.”

“Got it.”

Again, the both of them tended to the room in silence. Ami dusted the cosmetics on her mother’s vanity. Arata swept the floor where Ami had told him to. He noticed there was little to no dust on the floor. From what he had seen of the house so far, he could tell Ami did her best to keep it clean.

“Ami,” Arata called.

“Yes?”

“If your mother ever goes abroad again and you need help with anything, please let me know.”

Ami tilted her head, a soft smile on her face. “What’s with all this worry?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you can’t fend for yourself,” Arata answered, “I just...want you to know I’m always willing to lend a hand.

“You did so much for me. It was about time I did something for you in return.”

“Arata…” Ami’s chin quivered slightly. “You’re going to move me to tears. That said...thank you for being such a good friend.”

“You’re welcome. I’m thankful to have you as a friend, too.”

Ami gave Arata a pleased look. She turned away to continue with her task. That also allowed her to pull herself together. She loved to hear that kind of thing from her friends, but the fact those words came from Arata made them extra special. Ami had to struggle not to let out a squeal. Could things get any better?

\----------------------------------------

It was almost 12 PM. All Ami and Arata had left to clean was the kitchen. That would be no issue for them, it had an average size and it was rather clean already. Ami messaged the group chat telling everyone that they probably wouldn’t need to come. Either way, she’d still keep them updated.

She and Arata had stopped for a little break. To Ami’s surprise, he didn’t oppose the idea. They were drinking an apple juice Ami had bought the previous day.

“You know,” Arata began, “I’m not used to this kind of thing.”

“You mean the juice?” Ami raised an eyebrow.

“No. I mean being invited to someone’s house, being treated to stuff, all that.”

“Oh…”

Arata sighed, “I became reclusive after the EDEN incident. Back then I had no memories of what happened, so I never knew why I felt that way.”

“You had the people in Jude when you grew up, didn’t you?” Ami shifted her body so she was facing Arata.

Arata did the same before continuing. Now their knees were almost touching one another. “Yes, there was an overall sense of fellowship, but that was lost once we disbanded.”  
Ami looked down. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Nah, it’s fine. That happened so many years ago. Now I have Nokia, the twins...and you.” Arata stared right into Ami’s eyes as he spoke that last part. He smirked slightly.

Poor Ami didn’t know what to say. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a silly grin. Maybe there was no need to say anything. Her reaction probably told Arata everything he needed to know.

After a moment of silence, Arata talked again. “To be honest, I’m a bit jealous of the relationship you have with your mother. I can tell you two are close.”

“You...aren’t close to your parents?” 

“Not at all. We started drifting apart when I was still a kid. Pretty sure it was after the incident, too.”

“That’s a pity. Your parents should have been there for you when you needed them the most.” Falling victim to an impulse, Ami placed her hand on Arata’s. “At least you have us now.”

Arata went wide-eyed. He looked at Ami’s hand as it rested on his. Hers was soft and delicate. His was big and rather dry. Ami took her friend’s quietness as a cue to withdraw her hand. However, what Arata wanted was the opposite. 

“You didn’t have to take your hand off.” The boy went quiet for a second, then he facepalmed. “I can’t believe I just said that out loud…” 

Ami chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t want to make things awkward.”

“No, it wasn’t awkward. I...actually liked it.” Arata looked down, allowing the neck of his coat to cover his reddened cheeks.

Ami almost choked on the sip of juice she just took. Her whole face lit up. “You liked having my hand on yours?”

“Yes, it was comforting. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.”

“I assure you it doesn’t. I’m glad to hear that.” Ami didn’t care to hide the radiant smile on her face. Before she could take another sip of juice, a notification reached her phone. “It must be Nokia asking how it’s going.”

The girl put down her glass and took her phone. She had a new message, but it wasn’t from Nokia. It was from her mother. Ami opened it in a heartbeat. 

“ _I wanted this to be a surprise, but I couldn’t wait to tell you. I’m actually coming home tomorrow!_ ”

Arata watched Ami type on her phone. Her eyes sparkled with pure glee. He wanted to ask who the message was from, but he didn’t want to be nosy either.

Ami herself answered his question. “My mom just wrote. She will be here tomorrow, I can’t believe it! I’m so glad...”

“That’s great news!” Arata offered his friend a kind smile. He eyed the two glasses of juice out of the corner of his eye. “In that case, we should contin—”

He couldn’t finish the sentence. Ami threw herself into his arms as she squealed. The emotion of the moment took over her. However, it didn’t take long until it dawned on her. Ami’s heart pounded out of control. Arata’s body was tense against hers. She understood why, the hug took him by surprise. 

Despite that, he still returned the gesture. He had his arms gently wrapped around the girl. Arata almost feared breaking Ami if he hugged her too tightly. He finally had the one he loved between his arms and it was hard to believe. Neither of them dared to move. Time had frozen and they wanted to savor the moment.

Ami rested her chin on Arata’s shoulder, resisting the urge to bury her face on it instead. She closed her eyes as she noticed how his body relaxed. It was like something out of her wildest dreams. Just the two of them in each other’s arms, feeling the warmth of their bodies. Ami wondered if Arata was comfortable with that. As much as she didn’t want that moment to end, they had important things to do anyway. Her mother would be back in twenty-four hours or less and everything had to be perfect.

Without fully letting go, Ami parted away from Arata. “We should get on with the kitchen.”

“Yeah, we should,” the boy breathed.

Although they were aware of what they should be doing, neither of them would let go. They were still rather close. Arata gazed into Ami’s eyes. He saw yearning and tenderness and need. Ami saw the same in her friend’s eyes, except there was also fear. Fear of doing something he shouldn’t. That’s why Ami thought she should give him a hint. She gently moved her hand from his arm to his shoulder.

Arata looked at the hand that now rested on his shoulder. He then looked back at Ami. Her lips were slightly parted. Full of patience, she looked into his eyes. That had to be it. The sign that allowed him to continue. The sign that asked him to do it.

He brought a trembling hand to Ami’s cheek. Her skin was incredibly soft and Arata couldn’t help but run his thumb back and forth. Ami closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy his touch. His palm was slightly sweaty, but that didn’t bother her. Her hands were becoming sweaty as well. Ami opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Now they were much closer than before.

That’s when Arata leaned in. Ami did so at the same time, tilting her head in the same direction as him too. They ended up bumping noses. It didn’t hurt, but it stung a little.

“How about we repeat that?” Ami chuckled lightheartedly.

“Y-yes please,” Arata spluttered. His cheeks were red.

Ami decided to stay still this time. She would wait to see in which direction Arata tilted his head. He took a deep breath and then leaned in for the second time. He tilted his head to the right, so Ami tilted hers to the left. In a second, their lips finally met. The softness of Arata’s lips surprised Ami. Together with the sweetness the apple juice had left behind, the feeling was wonderful.

Arata felt the same way as he locked lips with Ami. His hand still cradled her face, so he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her closer. With one hand, Ami softly ran her fingers through Arata’s hair. She was careful not to pull at it. She then took her hand further down, to the middle of his back, and let it rest there. The sense of safety Ami felt while in Arata’s arms made her heart full. Had it not been because they had things to do, she would have asked him to cuddle with her on the couch.

As for Arata, he couldn’t be happier even if he wanted to. Unfortunately he was becoming breathless, so he had to break the kiss. He let it linger for a moment, brushing his lips with Ami’s. He opened his eyes and looked at the girl he loved. It didn’t take long until a big smile appeared on her face. She was radiant and so was Arata. He smiled too. It was a rare sight, so Ami cherished it every time it happened. This time was even more special since she was the reason for that smile.

“Wow…” Ami finally managed to speak, “I still feel butterflies on my stomach.”

“Glad to know I’m not the only one,” Arata chuckled. He went quiet for a moment and took Ami’s hands on his. “I don’t know how to say this without being cheesy, but...I’m glad my first kiss was with you.”

Ami’s eyes became glossy. “No, it’s not cheesy. I’m glad about it too. There’s no one else I would have rather had my first kiss with, Arata.”

The boy barely contained a gasp. The loving look in Ami’s eyes threatened to make him melt. He wrapped his arms around Ami again and held her so her head rested against his chest. She put her arms around him right away, listening to his heartbeat. It was accelerated, just like hers, but still calming. Arata placed a tender kiss on top of Ami’s head.

“Can we stay like this for five minutes?” Ami spoke with her face buried on Arata’s chest.

“Of course we can,” Arata answered as he rested his chin on the girl’s head.

The hug felt different to them both. The first one was filled with spontaneity and excitement, this one was infused with calm and affection. It was the kind of hug both yearned to have with each other, but they were too afraid to say it. Now things were just starting to be the way they were meant to be.


End file.
